Consciousness cannot be separated from reality. In this profound reflection, physicist Basil Hiley explains why classical physics tried to exclude the subject…
Category: neuroscience – Page 90
Gerald Pao | Algorithms to Map Neural Activity to Behavior
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PET scans reveal early signs of Parkinson’s and Lewy body disorders
In a comprehensive Genomic Press perspective article published today, researchers from Fudan University and Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine have highlighted remarkable advances in the development of positron emission tomography (PET) tracers capable of visualizing α-synuclein aggregates in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders.
The abnormal accumulation of α-synuclein protein is a defining pathological feature of several neurodegenerative conditions collectively known as synucleinopathies, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Until recently, confirming the presence of these protein aggregates required post-mortem examination, severely limiting early diagnosis and treatment monitoring capabilities.
“The ability to visualize these protein aggregates in living patients represents a significant leap forward in neurodegenerative disease research,” explains Dr. Fang Xie, corresponding author and researcher at the Department of Nuclear Medicine & PET Center at Huashan Hospital, Fudan University.
Skin-based test could improve diagnosis of debilitating neurodegenerative disease
Researchers at the University Health Network (UHN) and the University of Toronto have developed a skin-based test that can detect signature features of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects body movements, including walking, balance and swallowing.
The test, which the researchers describe in a recent issue of JAMA Neurology, could allow for more accurate and faster PSP diagnosis than current methods.
“This assay is important for assigning patients to the correct clinical trials, but it will be even more important in the future as researchers develop targeted, precision treatments for PSP,” says Ivan Martinez-Valbuena, a scientific associate at the Rossy Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Centre at the UHN’s Krembil Brain Institute and U of T’s Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Brain-computer interface restores natural speech after paralysis
The system was trained to decode words and turn them into speech in increments of 80 milliseconds (0.08 seconds). For comparison, people speak about three words per second, or around 130 words per minute. The system then delivered audible words using the woman’s voice, which was captured from a recording made before the stroke.
The system was able to decode the full vocabulary set at a rate of 47.5 words per minute. It could decode a simpler set of 50 words even more rapidly, at 90.9 words per minute. That’s much faster than an earlier device the researchers had developed, which decoded about 15 words per minute with a 50-word vocabulary. The new device had a more than 99% success rate in decoding and synthesizing speech in less than 80 milliseconds. It took less than a quarter of a second to translate speech-related brain activity into audible speech.
The researchers found that the system wasn’t limited to trained words or sentences. It could make out novel words and decode new sentences to produce fluent speech. The device could also produce speech indefinitely without interruption.
‘Magic mushrooms’ show promise for improving motor function and mood in Parkinson’s patients
Psilocybin, a natural compound found in certain mushrooms, has shown promise in treating depression and anxiety. UC San Francisco researchers wanted to know if it could be used to help Parkinson’s patients who often experience debilitating mood dysfunction in addition to their motor symptoms and don’t respond well to antidepressants or other medications.
The results were surprising.
Not only did participants tolerate the drug without serious side effects or worsening symptoms, which is what the pilot study was designed to test, they also experienced clinically significant improvements in mood, cognition, and motor function that lasted for weeks after the drug was out of their systems.